All-Party Meet: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that in the all-party meeting ahead of the Parliament session, the JD(U) and the YSRCP demanded special category status for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh respectively, however, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ‘kept quiet’ on the matter. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the Congress leader said,  “In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter.”

The development came after JD(U), a key ally of the ruling NDA, had recently passed a resolution demanding special category status or package for Bihar. Apart from this, the Opposition also raised the NEET-UG row and the Kanwar order controversy at an all-party meeting called by the Centre ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament.

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Here Are The Issues Raised In All-Party Meet

- In the all-party meeting, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav raised the Uttar Pradesh government’s latest order asking all restaurants along the Kanwar Yatra route across the state to display the names of their owners outside their establishments and said that it is “Not the correct thing to do.”

- Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi raised the issues of NEET, and alleged misuse of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Deputy Speaker post, news agency ANI reported citing sources. 

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- Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has reportedly asked his party MPs to take up the demand for special category status for Odisha. The BJD has also emphasised that it would raise issues of interest to the state in Parliament being a strong opposition. 

Who Attended The All-Party Meet

The all-party meeting was attended by  Jana Sena Party leader Bala Krishna, BJD leader Sasmit Patra, JDU leader Sanjay Jha, Union Ministers Ramdas Athawale, Praful Patel, Chirag Paswan, and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi among others. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and BJP President JP Nadda were also present.

However, the meeting was not attended by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs as they were observing Shahidi Divas (Martyrdom Day) in West Bengal. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was also absent from the meeting as he reached Kolkata to attend the observance at the invitation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.